Apparatus for railway signaling.



A. H. FOX (II. A. W. LENDEROTH.

APPARATUS FOR RAILWAY SIGNALING.

Patentedjune 5, 1917.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9. 1916.

"stationary, the casing 'TTNTTED @TATEfi ward @iWiQlt AUS'IEN H. FOX AND ARNOLD W. LENDEROTI-I, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 5, 1917.

Application filed May 9, 1916. Serial No. 96,305.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, AUs'rnN H. Fox and ARNOLD W. LENDEROTH, both citizens of the United States, residing at New York, in the counties of New York and Richmond, respectively, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Railway Signaling, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. I

In a system of electrical signaling or con trol for railways devised by us, and the more recent developments in which we have illustrated and claimed in an application filed. November 8th, 1915, Serial No. 60,234, a detector magnet is inclosed in a casing carried by a support secured to the car truck frame and is held in close proximity to the periphery of one of the car wheels and to the rail under it. For practical reasons, the support is pivotally connected to the truck frame so as to be movable in a vertical plane, and the casing itself is capable of a limited movement with reference to the wheel.

These precautions are rendered necessary by the conditions encountered in ordinary use, under which the casing, owing to its proximity to the rail, is likely to meet obstructions on or near the track, of frogs, switches, or loose objects such as spikes and the like, as otherwise, if it were rigidly supported it would be liable to injury or permanent displacement.

The ideal form of such casing would obviously be a perfectly round body or wheel which would contact with and run on the rail and revolve with the motion of the vehicle to which it is attached, but practically this is not feasible nor possible, mainly because in such case the speed of rotation of the small casing would be excessive, but in an endeavor to approach these ideal conditions, we have devised a circular casing for the detector magnet which is carried by a spring supported arm pivoted to the truck frame, and to which a relatively slow move ment of rotation is imparted from one of the car axles, so that, while the magnet and its accessories inclosed by the casing remain much below that which would be imparted to it by actual contact with the rail.

The means for imparting this rotation to the casing may be of any suitable kind, but we prefer to use a train of reducing sprocket to th itself turns at a speed chains from the wheel axle, but whatever v means may be used for this purpose'it is so organized or arranged that should the casing, during the movement of the vehicle, be struck by any stationary object so as to re ceive an impetus tending to revolve it at a much more rapid rate, such speed will be temporarily permitted by the operation of an interposed friction or similar clutch so that the liability to injury under such circumstances will be very greatly reduced.

The rotation of the casing during the movement of the vehicle is maintained not only for the purpose of facilitating its more rapid rotation under such circumstances as above described, but also to remove by friction from the field of the detector magnet poles any loose magnetic objects, such as spikes, which may be picked up along the line of travel and attracted by the magnetism against the exterior of the casing where they might become a source of danger or disturbance if they remained.

In this construction the invention subject of our present application resides, and in the drawing hereto annexed it is illustrated in the best form at present known to us.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car wheel equipped with our improvement. such as parts Fig. 2 is an end view of the same, and

Fig. 3 a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

The electromagnetic element, the function of which is to control one or more circuits on the vehicle by changes in its position due e presence or absence of magnetic attraction for the rail, is indicated at A. It is an electro-magnetic core pivoted at its center of gravity in bearings in a forked hanger B, having a counter balancing weight C, and pivoted about the center of a spindle on shaft D, carried by the yoke or hanger E.

The hanger E is supported by a rod or spindle F in the sides of a yoke G and held centrally between the sides of the yoke by yielding spiral springs H between the hanger E and the two sides of the yoke G, being capable of sliding on the rod F, but not of revolving thereon by reason of the presence of a plate I on the yoke E which contacts with the central portion of the ban er G.

T e yoke G is carried by an arm or lever K pivoted to a stationary attachment to the truck frame L so as to be capable of vertical secured to a rotary block Q set in-.the part L of the truck frame, so thatit has the capacity of lateral movement about the center of the block as an axis.

' ment A and its supports,

The rodM is supported in the swivel block 0 by a spiral spring R between said block and a nut in the end of the rod, which spring supports substantially the entire weight of the lever K and tlj e other parts above described as carried thereby, a limiting stop E in therodlvl preventing latter from descending too far. i

In order to limit the movement of the bracket arm and maintain it in proper alinement, two wheels S are mounted in brackets thereon and engage with the folly of the car wheel T.

Mounted on the spindle D and between the arms of the hanger E is a cylindrical casing U, which incloses the magneticv eleand this casing is capable of rotating freely on the said spindle. The casing. is formed with or has attached thereto a sprocket wheel V, which is driven by a chain forming one member of a reducing train of sprocket chains for imparting rotation at a relatively slow speed from the main axle X, and at some point in this train as between the two sprockets Y and Z is a frictional connection or clutch as shown in Fig. 3, in order that any tendency to rotate thecasing U imparted to it from another source than the axle X, will be operative to overcome the drive and permit the two sprockets Y and Z to slip one on or with respect to the other. e

We have shown a magnetic body J that bridges the gap between the magnet A and the wheel mass and thus completes the magnetic circuit of the trackrail, but this has to do with the operation of the magnet and its control, by

ent application is not directly concerned.

The shaft D should have a slight capability to turn, in order that slight irregularities of the track that transfer corresponding variations in the movement of the truck will be maintained in: a vertical plane and not tend'to turn the mechanism about the truck axle or carjournal as would otherwise be the case. This permitted motion of the shaft Dv ishowever limited by the presenceof a spring blade or arm C extending up from the shaft D between the fixed stopsD.

The center of the'shaft D, it will be observed, is directly over the center of maximum attraction of the free magnetic pole of A, so that the center of gravity of the magnetic element and its counter weight and the its tilting movement, of the olrcuits on the vehicle, with which the pres the magnetic center are the same and no tendency to rotation about the axis of the shaft 1) is produced and no force is applied tending to bendthe spring arm C against either of the stops D.

The position and means of support for the iron mass J must be determined by experiment in order to secure not only its proper operation, but still not tend to rotate the same from its proper relation to the wheel and the rail, should the spring arm C break, as well as to prevent adverse pressure or excess pressure being brought to bear on the said spring. It should also be observed that proper precautions should be taken to prevent rotation of the magnetic element without regard to whether it is energized or not.

The purpose and functions of the several parts comprised in this apparatus being fully described in our prior patents and now well known need not be enlarged upon herein. The special object in the present case, as above outlined, is to be able to use a circular casing for the detector magnet which shall rotate when. the vehicle is in motion, which will not be liable tobind' in frogsor switches, but which will readily yield to impacts from extraneous objects so as not to be injured or displaced. From the above description this feature will be readily understood.

N hat we claim is 1. In a railway signaling or controlling mechanism the combination with a car truck frame, of an arm depending therefrom, a circular detector magnet casing rotatably supported by the the periphery of a car wheel and to the rail whereby the casing when encountering extraneous objects will be rotated thereby and liability to injury avoided.

arm in close proximity to 2. In a railway signaling or controlling mechanism the combmatlon with a car truck frame, of a support attached thereto which is movable vertically and horizontally, of a circular detector magnet casing rotatably mounted on and carried by said support n close proximity to the periphery of a car 7 wheel and to the rail.

4. Tnan apparatus ofthe kind described,

the combination with acar truck frame of a support attached thereto, a circular detec= tor magnet casing mounted on said support in close'proximity to the periphery of ac-can wheeland to the rail, means for imparting rotation from a car axle to said casing and a yielding connection in said means whereby the casing may be rotated by an ex ternal source of power.

5. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with a car truck frame of a support attached thereto, a circular detector magnet casing carried thereby and in close proximity to the periphery of a wheel and to the rail, a train of sprockets and chains between the casing and a car axle for imparting a relatively slow movement of rotation to the casing in the same direction as that of the wheels.

6. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with a car truck frame, of a support thereon, a circular detector magnet casing carried by the support in close proximity to the periphery of a car Wheel and to the rail, sprockets and chains intermediate to the casing and a car axle for imparting a relatively slow movement of rotation to the casing and a sliding connection between two of said sprockets for the purpose set forth.

7. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with a car truck frame of an arm or lever pivoted thereto and capable of movement in a vertical plane, a detector magnet casing carried by said arm, a second arm pivoted to the frame and capable of a limited lateral movement with respect thereto, and a spring connection between the two levers, for the purpose set forth.

8. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with a car truck frame of a lever pivoted thereto with capability of vertical movement, a circular detector anagnet casing rotatably mounted on said lever, and a second lever pivoted to the car truck frame and capable of limited lateral movement, and a spring connection between the two levers, for the purpose set forth.

9. In an apparatus of the kind described, a detector magnet carried in close proximity to the periphery of a wheel and to the rail, of a detector magnet and supports thereon, a circular casing surrounding and inclosing the magnet and its stationary supports, and capable of free rotation about the same.

10. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with a detector magnet and fixed supports therefor, which maintain the magnet in close proximity to the periphery of a wheel and to the rail, of a circular casing surrounding the magnet and its supports, and means for imparting a relatively slow rotation to the casing from a moving body on the car truck.

In testimony whereof we hereunto atfix our signatures.

AUSTEN I-I. FOX. ARNOLD W. LENDEROTH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

